


Softish Epilogue for Buttons1721

by PersephoneBlck



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Forced Marriage, Hanahaki Disease
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 16:09:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29952519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PersephoneBlck/pseuds/PersephoneBlck
Summary: Only did this because she requested something not fueled with hatred at the end
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Corban Yaxley
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	Softish Epilogue for Buttons1721

**Author's Note:**

  * For [buttons1721](https://archiveofourown.org/users/buttons1721/gifts).



It had started as a smattering of tulips, then as the seasons changed it had been daisies and then orchids, Hermione was unsure of what it was, because she never found the flower arrangements that she figured they belonged to.  
Yaxley was in his own way a classic romantic and she was used to getting fresh flower arrangements from him often, but she had also informed the house elves that any flower arrangements were to be sent to St. Mungos for patients who didn't have visitors or as gifts.  
Now she sat in a chair at St. Mungos and found that Yaxley was quite literally the source of the flowers.  
Hanahaki disease was thought to be a fairy tale even in the Wizarding world, unrequited love causing the afflicted to throw up flowers to the point of death by suffocation was not something that had been encountered in a millenia.  
There were no records of cases, outside of some lovesick poems.  
She had been informed that her husband had been interned into St. Mungos but not given the reason and Hermione thought that he had been injured on a case with Harry.  
Harry had found him at his desk at work, holding letters in his hand informing him of his condition and his wish to pass on in order to free Hermione from their marriage.

Harry had thankfully ignored the letters and somehow managed to get oxygen into her blonde giant of a husband.  
She wasn't sure how long her husband had been suffering and by her earliest recollection it had been years since she found flowers in random places.  
Harry was still there with healer Augustus Pye who they remembered giving stitches to Arthur after Naginis attack  
Healer Augustus Pye had thankfully saved her husband's life by implementing muggle ventilators and fusing it with magical treatment but they were unsure of how long he would last all that Hermione knew that the cause of this illness was unrequited love.  
She thought of her children and how they loved their father, how they had managed to let them think that their parents were 'normal ' .  
Images of Yaxley holding them as babies, feeding them, teaching them to ride their first brooms and putting them to sleep flashed in her mind.  
She knew that she hated her husband's obsession, resented the very connection that allowed her to know that he was still here on this plane of existence with her, but did she love him back enough to save him? Did she resent him enough to let him die to be free of their marriage?  
What kind of love could turn this around for them, and Hermione knew that she had to do something because she really couldn't imagine condemning him, she did love him in a warped way that had been born out of being together so long, and she knew that because in the last few years it had taken more conscious thought to manipulate their connection to let him feel rejected.  
She had to try something or he wouldn't last the night.  
It took some convincing from Healer Pye and Harry but she managed to convince them to try.  
A dose of veritaserum for her and a few moments alone with her husband  
"I know that you are still here because I can feel you still trying to protect me and soothe me even in this state. I need you to know that I am telling you the truth and I have taken veritaserum to ensure it  
I hated what you did to me, you locked me into a marriage against my will, I hated your suffocating need and adoration. I hated you so much it became a routine and I enjoyed my revenge against you by making sure you felt it everyday.  
As time passed I hated when you made me laugh, I hated it when you made my day, I hated that you understood my moods better than some of my closest friends. I hated you actively because if I allowed myself to stop I knew that I start to feel a form of love for you.”  
She was choking on tears and wondered briefly if his recent turns to being taciturn had to do with trouble drawing breath, but continued.  
“But it happened anyways, I love you Yaxley, it's not the fairy tale love that we have presented to our children but I love you and I want to forgive you because I can't imagine our lives without you.  
I want to be with you."  
She held his hand and kissed him as best as she could with the machines that breathed for him,and as his color improved and his eyes fluttered she felt the weight of his adoration towards her and instead of feeling shackled she felt free.


End file.
